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Clash of Empires - The Great Game (IN MP AAR)

An Irishman, a Spaniard, a Czech, a Dane, an Indian and the Pope all walk into a bar...
The Bartender looks up and says: "What the hell is this, some kind of joke?!"

The Scenario1399 AD (Full Size Map)
Major nations of the world have become heavily decentralized - Europe is still a breeding ground for feudalism and China is still trapped in a seemingly eternal struggle between three kingdoms. The time for war is upon us; Empires are there to be forged, the only question is who will forge them.

Remembering that we are all friends in this game, stay polite and don’t aggravate each other!

Phony wars (for war taxes, keeping personal unions, etc) and other cheap tactics are heavily discouraged – don’t abuse the system like that…

War should be conducted in a friendly, civil manner – if it’s clear you’ve lost a war, offer some kind of tribute for peace. Try not to abuse your power by picking on vastly weaker nations. Don’t try and annihilate a nation completely and utterly even if you do beat them. Be fair and remember we all want to keep playing.

If someone can’t show but they insist we play anyway, try not to let their nation really change – if you’re forced into a war or they lose a war, try not to damage them permanently.

Development for a favourable AAR storyline is preferable to power-gaming – don’t just blob mindlessly, do try and keep something resembling historicity.

Common sense triumphs, let's just try to keep to what we feel is fair and we'll decide as a group if something is or is not fair.

Most importantly, try to have fun – that’s what is most important in this game, after all!

One casualty, some arguing and a conscripts later, we've got ourselves the makings of a game!

After five hours of arguing, restarts, more restarts, crashes, some more arguing, and at last a final recruit after it was clear our first host was the source of the problem...we sat down to play, having finally fixed pretty much all the problems. Then we realized we were out of time and people had to go soon. Saaaaaaad.

After that major cluster!%&* we had in the start, we literally got nowhere in the game, but we did basically get a pretty much defined set of players, nations, and a time to play. The game is a fairly closed set of friends, as we're xenophobic prats, but we wanted to make an AAR for the enjoyment of all. :3

I've prepared a short summary of the game; the first session will probably be Thursday Evening, but we hope to play regularly on Friday nights, as we'll have more time. Here's a quick rundown of the participants:

*Denotes a tie.
Overall ratings are based on an semi-objective points system which is currently undergoing refinement - it gives a rough idea of achievement, but not necessarily power. I'll work on it when I have more time.

Land Area:

1. Denmark 22 (16*)

2. Delhi 12

3. Burgundy 9 (6*)

4. Bohemia 7

5. Byzantium 2

5. Papal States 2

6. Leinster 1

*Number in parentheses defines how much of that is the contribution from vassals or personal unions.

Economy:

1. Burgundy 9.5 ducats/month

2. Delhi 8.9 ducats/month

3. Bohemia 6.7 ducats/month

4. Denmark 5.1 ducats/month

5. The Papal State 4.2 ducats/month

6. Byzantium 2.5 ducats/month

7. Leinster 0.8 ducats/month

Army:

1. Bohemia 12,110/63,726 manpower - 1k Cavalry, 4k Infantry

2. Denmark 13,894/14,408 manpower - 2k Cavalry, 5k Infantry

3. Delhi 10,789/12,278 manpower - 1k Cavalry, 4k Infantry

4. Burgundy 12,240/6,152 manpower - 2k Cavalry, 4k Infantry

5. The Papal State 5,284/5,842 manpower - 2k Infantry

6. Byzantium 2,569/3,484 manpower - 2k infantry

7. Leinster 629/1,000 manpower - 1k Infantry

Navy:

1. Denmark 6 Carracks, 9 Galleys, 11 Cogs

2. Burgundy 3 Carracks, 2 Cogs

3. The Papal State 5 Galleys, 2 Cogs

4. Byzantium 2 Galleys, 2 Cogs

5. Leinster 2 Cogs

6. Delhi NONE

6. Bohemia NONE

...as you can see, I apparently kick ass!

Realistically, I think that Bohemia is more deserving of a 1st place spot due to that massive manpower, but I'm working on fixing the rating system. This is just an opening, we haven't played yet, so we'll see how it goes.

I'll work on my own country's intro. We might get another recruit at some point but I doubt we'll be expanding beyond that. I hope all participants can introduce their nations before we start for real. Thanks to the interest showed so far - my fellow players, please feel free to post and reply to comments as you see fit!

... The Irishman sits down on a barstool and orders a glass of whiskey. “So, what’s your story?” the barkeep asks, putting a glass of Scotch in front of the red-haired man. “Well...” the Irishman starts, taking a sip from his drink. “What the bloody hell is this, man!” he exclaims. “I wanted Irish whiskey, not this Scottish junk!”

Art was a young man, 24 years of age. He just inherited the throne of Leinster from his father. A few days after the coronation, Art climbed up to the highest tower of his castle. He looked out over the vast lands of Eire. He had only just become King, but he already had great plans for his country. He knew what he must do, what his father would have wanted him to do.

On his deathbed, the late King had told Art, just before drawing his final breath: “My son, my time has come. I want you to rule my Kingdom. Take it to great heights. Do what I could not, realize my lifelong dream. Unite the Kingdoms of Eire and rule the Celtic Lands. That is my final wish. Make me proud, my boy.”

Art sighed, his father’s last words echoing through his mind. ‘One day,’ he thought. ‘One day, I will rule the whole of Eire. I will fulfil your wish, father, or die trying.’

"For too long we have tolerated the foul presence of the Turks and Latins within our lands! For too long we have merely been a plaything of Fate! For too long we have been divided, quarrelling about ourselves! No longer this will be! For the times, they are a change! We have ordered the regas of Greece, the self styled lords of Naxos, Achaea and Cyprus to return into the Empire, will they fail to do so, they will be returned by arms! The time has come to reunite! The time has come for the Roman Empire to, like the phoenix, rise from its ashes!

Alea iacta est! It is time to march, return with your shield or on it!

By the Grace of God,
Manuel II, Basileus Caesar"

- Manuel II's orders to the captains of the Imperial Guard, short before the triple war of October 19th 1399

Note: In the AAR itself I will refer to the Byzantine Empire as the Roman Empire, Empire of the Romans, Romania or Romais

Half a year ago, he had sent an ultimatum: if the policy of tolerating the Hindus continued, he would take his mighty armies and march to Delhi himself. The thought seemed preposterous, the Hindus were paying their taxes just as ordained, until Nusrat had learned how Timur was low on treasure.

There was certainly that to be found in the vaults and palaces of Delhi, the city Nusrat's predecessors had painstakingly built to thrive on the shores of the Yamuna. Nusrat knew what would come next. There was no way to oppose him. The horde descended upon them from the northwest, and that was that. Nusrat had had no choice but to pack up his court and flee to Agra, while Timur and his men pillaged the city.

Now there was nothing but ruin. Watching Timur Lenk's last caravans of loot crawl away to the west, Nusrat Shah, the Sultan of Delhi, made a decision. For even though he had refused to oppress the people of Delhi, and even though Timur Lenk had used it as an excuse to take what was rightly his, he had preserved that which was most important: his Sultanate, and his subjects. To escape Timur with those intact must have been providence.

I love the antics involved in these Multiplayer AAR's. Hopefully you guys won't lose interest and this game will carry on for a long time!

Good Luck!

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.” - Jon Stewart
---#21: You can silence me but there will be others. Semper Fidelis Tyrannosaurus!Dr. Killinger: It's Sic Semper Tyrannis. You said, "Ever faithful terrible lizard."#21: I did? Cool.